Friday, July 25, 2014

Amongst the three major trekking areas in Nepal, namely, Everest, Annapurna and Langtang, the Langtang valley is the most under trekked. Most of the big name peaks are in the Everest and Annapurna regions, so Langtang has always come third when selecting a trekking destination. In many ways this is real pity because Langtang offers pristine forests, rich bird life, monastic culture and above all some spectacular mountain views of the Langtang Himal topped by the shapely Langtang Lirung. The cost of the trek is Rs 45,000/ per person for Kathmandu to Kathmandu (9 days) for SAARC citizens and USD 1000 for foreigners as per the itinerary below. Exclusions apply. For a detailed trek pdf do e-mail me at sujoyrdas@gmail.com.

TREK SCHEDULE

Day 01 Kathmandu to Syabrubesi (1470m) by road

The journey should take 6 to 8 hours depending on traffic and mode of
transport.

Day 02 Syabrubesi to Lama Hotel (2470m) 1070m ascent 7 to 8 hours

From Syabrubesi walk
up the main road and then take the right hand fork and descend to the river.
Before the bridge you come to a check post where the permits are verified.
Cross the bridge and climb up to a small village. Walk through the village for
about five minutes and then come to another bridge. Do not cross this bridge
and carry on along the same bank of the river. After about an hour or so, you
will reach the New Bridge Ayusiddhi Lodge at Tiwari. Cross this bridge and walk
upstream through a very pleasant forested track. In about two hours from
Syabrubesi you will come to Doman next to a huge waterfall. From Doman climb
uphill and then downhill and in about 30-40 minutes reach the lodges of Pairo.
From Pairo the trail is through the forest and in about 90-100 minutes reached Bamboo
which is the first day’s lunch stop.
Leave Bamboo after lunch and continue to climb through the forest past
waterfalls. About an hour from Bamboo the trail crosses another bridge with
“Welcome to Langtang” signposted on top. There is a small tea house across the
bridge. The trail then begins to climb
steadily for about an hour to Lower Rimche. Upper Rimche is about 20 minutes away with two lodges and
lovely sunset views. If you are continuing to Lama Hotel for the night stop it
is about 20 minutes from Rimche. This can be quite a long day and if you are
not sure, it is suggested to stop at Bamboo.

Leaving Lama Hotel
the trail winds through oak and rhododendron forests. Keep a look out for
birds, I spotted a Khalij pheasant here! Within forty minutes the Langtang
peaks come into view framed by the trees. The pleasant stop of Riverside is reached in about 90 to 100
minutes. 20 minutes away from

Riverside is Woodlands. From Woodlands the trail climbs
uphill once again and in about an hour or so reaches Ghora Tabela. Ghora Tabela
is a good tea stop in the sunshine. The Army check post is just beyond Ghora
Tabela where the permits are checked
once again. The trail again climbs from the Army check post and crosses a
forested patch after which it reaches Thangsyap in about 75-90 minutes. Thangsyap is a good stop for lunch and there
are a number of lodges here. Ahead of Thangsyap the valley begins to broaden
and in around 20 minutes Chamki village
is reached. The lodges here specialize in yak curd and Hotel Peaceful offers this to all trekkers. Try to have the
yak curd with honey! From Chamki, the
lodges of Langtang village look tantalizingly close but they are still 90 minutes
away. The trail climbs to a hill top crosses Gomba village and then descends to
a long suspension bridge. Cross the bridge and then climb up to Langtang
village.

We are now at 11,000 feet plus so a rest day for
acclimatization is recommended.

Day
06 Langtang Village to Kyanjin Gompa (3860m) 460m ascent (3 to 4 hours) The trail climbs through Langtang village pass some marshy flats
which could be iced over in late autumn/winter. It then ascends in a series of
zig zags to Mundu village (30 to 40 min). From Mundu reach Sedum in around 20
min. The valley now begins to open up and Gina Chhenpo presents a dress circle
view at the head. From Sindum the trail
follows the river uphill and reaches the “Big Rock Café” in around 40 minutes.
Stop for a cup of tea here – Kyanjin is still an hour away. The trail descends
to the river and in the distance a white chorten can be seen – the entrance of
Kyanjin. From the river it is about thirty minutes to the chorten. Cross the bridge
over the fast flowing Langtang Khola and meander over flats climbing gently
until Kyanjin Gompa is reached.

Day 6 Rest Day at Kyanjin Gompa The rest day at Kyanjin Gompa can be used to walk
up the valley part of the way to the grazing grounds of Langshisha Kharka
surrounded by glaciers. Alternatively it is possible to climb the peak of Kyanjin Ri (4600m) with a fine view over
the entire Langtang valley. There is a
lower KyanjinRi viewpoint which is visible just above
Kyanjin Gompa with the prayer flags and this is around 4400 metres and takes about two hours to climb! The harder
climb is TsergoRi (4984m) which would take around four
hours up and three hours down. There can be snow and ice near the top.

Day 7 Kyanjin
Gompa to Lama Hotel (2480m) 6 to 7 hours

It is a fairly long haul down to Lama
Hotel and perhaps it is easier to return to Langtang village in the evening
from Kyanjin Gompa and then go down to Lama Hotel the next day. This is what we
did. It is a 1300 metre descent down the valley to Lama Hotel passing Langtang
village (2-3 hours), Ghora Tabela (3-4 hours) and finally Lama Hotel ( 6-7 hours). We usually stop for lunch at Ghora Tabela.We continue down to Syabrubesi where we
started our trek.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

One of the most important items of equipment to consider before going on a trek or a climb is a sleeping bag. A good sleeping bag can make or mar a trek - if it is not warm enough, you will spend the whole night cold and shivering and will be tired the next morning for the day's walk. So how do we choose the right sleeping bag? Here are some pointers to be taken into consideration:

Temperature
All good sleeping bags are temperature rated. The top of the line bags from companies like Marmot, Western Mountaineering, North Face etc. will also have the EN rating which is most accurate. Normally summer sleeping bags will be rated 0 to +10 Celsius, three season sleeping bags will be -10 to 0 Celsius, four season or winter bags will be -20 to -10 Celsius. The rating given by the company is supposed to be the lowest temperature which will keep an average sleeper warm. However, there are warm sleepers and cold sleepers so depending on the sort of sleeper you are, you may need to choose your bag. As a thumb rule, buy a sleeping bag five degrees Celsius below the lowest temperature you plan to encounter. So if you plan to be in -5 Celsius buy a -10 Celsius bag! A sleeping bag's temperature rating can be extended by using a liner inside but that would add to some additional weight to the bag.

Insulation
Broadly speaking, there are two types of insulation - synthetic and down. Synthetic is usually cheaper and comes under a lot of names - Primaloft, Polaguard, Thinsulate etc. Down can also of various ratings like 600 fill, 700 fill, 800 fill etc. In a nutshell, a down bag will usually be lighter and pack smaller than a synthetic bag of the same rating. It will also usually be more expensive than it's synthetic counterpart. However, down has a major drawback, if the bag gets wet then it is useless - it loses its insulating properties. So if you are going on a trek and expect lots of rain and snow, down may not be the best choice. Recently, a new type of down has been introduced called "Dri Down" which is supposed to insulate even when damp or wet!

Style
Broadly speaking they would be rectangular and mummy. The rectangular bags would have more room inside to toss and turn but usually the mummy bags would be warmer for the same weight and are preferable for high altitude treks.There are also bags with full zips and half-zips. The half zip ones would be lighter, but may be difficult to get in and out of! Weight
If you are carrying your own backpack, then weight is very important. The lighter sleeping bags will usually be more expensive than the heavier ones for the same temperature rating. I would suggest not to go beyond 3 lb in weight for a three season bag - in fact some of the good bags would range well below 3 lb.

Packed Size
Most sleeping bags will give you a packed size e.g. 7" x 13" and so on. The larger sizes e.g. 13 " x 20" would be very bulky and difficult to pack in a backpack. On one of our South Col treks, I saw a client's sleeping bag which took almost half the space in a 50 litre duffel and left very little room for anything else! So check the packed size before you buy. Generally down bags will pack smaller than synthetic bags because they are easier to compress.

Some of the great sleeping bags which I have used in the last thirty years in the mountains:

The North Face Blue Kazoo - almost a legendary bag, North Face has been manufacturing this bag for more than fifteen years now keeping the price and weigh more or less constant! It is often available on sale for less than US $ 200! Highly recommended for a good three season bag and if properly cared for can last a lifetime!http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/blue-kazoo_3.html

The Marmot Pinnacle
I am presently using this bag for the last couple of years - excellent loft, warmth to weight ratio and super light and compressible - it is filled with 800 fill power down. A highly rated bag though a bit on the expensive side! Marmot have stopped production of this bag which is a pity! The Meteor looks like the replacement for the Pinnacle! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN16Vt2cgco

Generally for spring and autumn trekking in the Himalaya a three season bag is usually fine. If you are planning to trek in winter, e.g. Chadar trek, then you need to have a four season bag.

Friday, July 11, 2014

In June 2014, I returned to Sikkim after many years. The purpose of my visit was to make the preliminary arrangements for a South Col trek to Green Lakes in October 2014, but after that I spent three days in North Sikkim photographing the flora of the Lachung valley. It was mid June and the monsoon had just started. The lower valley from Lachung to Yumtang which is between 9,000 and 11,000 feet had completed flowering but the upper valley especially near the meadows of Yume Samdong were spectacular. Here are some images from this visit - I am not too sure of the names so if there are any botanists they can correct me if I am wrong!

Friday, July 4, 2014

On 27th June 2014 at the Rotary Sadan, Kolkata I delivered the Tenzing Norgay Birth Centenary Commemorative Lecture organised by The Himalayan Club - Kolkata Section. A review of the evening was given in The Telegraph Kolkata Metro edition on June 30th 2014.

Little-known facts about the humble man of the hills — who, with Edmund Hillary, was the first to set foot on the world’s highest peak — tumbled out at a presentation by freelance photojournalist Sujoy Das before the city’s climbing enthusiasts.

The presentation, which combined black-and-white pictures, maps and anecdotes to bring Tenzing’s epic journey back to life, was organised on Friday by The Himalayan Club to pay homage to the sherpa on his birth centenary.

Tenzing was born Namgyal Wangdi. The lama of Tibet’s Rongbuk Monastery, Dzadrul Rimpoche, said he was the reincarnate of a wealthy man and changed his name to Norgay, which means “fortunate” in Tibetan. Tenzing, part of the lama’s original name, was added to it.

Das’s presentation harped on a couple of key moments in Tenzing’s life. The first was an epidemic in Tibet, which killed all the yaks of Tenzing’s father Ghang La Mingma.

This necessitated a teenaged Tenzing and Dawa Thondup, seven years his senior and member of the historic 1953 Everest climb, to make a trip to Nepal’s Kumbhu region on foot and eventually to Darjeeling, where foreign expedition teams hired sherpas.

“Had it not been for the epidemic, Tenzing would probably have been happy tending to his father’s yaks and wouldn’t have made history,” said Das.

Tenzing was rejected many times as sherpa before his “grin rather than his experience” impressed British expedition leader Eric Shipton in 1935. The youth from Tibet set off “learning by looking” and soon made a name for himself.

By this time he had married his teenage sweetheart Dawa Phuti, the first of his three marriages. Phuti died at a young age leaving behind two daughters.

Das pointed out that European climbers, especially “class conscious” Britons finally accepted Tenzing as one of their own.

“After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950, the approach to Everest through the north closed down and a southern route was explored. It was found to be easier (than the northern route) if one could handle a tricky ice fall, which claimed the lives of 16 sherpas this April,” said Das.

By the early 1950s, it became evident that conquering Everest was a matter of time and Tenzing was caught in a tug-of-war between Swiss and British teams.

Tenzing by then demanded that he be given the status of a climber rather than a sirdar — or leader of sherpas and manager of supplies — by a British team led by John Hunt and was granted his wish. A member of Hunt’s team was Edmund Hillary from New Zealand.

In fact, at their final camp at 27,640ft, a record at the time, Tenzing had spent an extremely cold night in the same camp as Hillary, sharing supplies.

The next morning, they made the first successful climb to the top of the world.

Funnily, when Tenzing went to meet his mother in Thami on the way down and told her of his feat, she was elated but only because “you will not have to climb mountains any more”.

After the expedition, Hillary and Hunt were knighted but Tenzing was conferred a much less prestigious George Medal. He, however, went to London and accepted it.

When the queen asked Ang Lahmu, his second wife, what she gifted Tenzing after he came down from Everest, she replied a “big tin of condensed milk”.

“He could use it. He was fatigued after the climb,” quipped Das.

Years later, when his son Jamling wanted to start Himalayan expeditions, Tenzing had put his foot down saying he had climbed himself so that his son would not have to.

A slide showed the famous words of his father: “You can’t see the entire world from the top of Everest, Jamling”.

Jamling, however, could not ignore the call of the mountains and climbed Everest in 1996. He returned to Everest in 2002, but only till the base camp, when he and Hillary’s son Peter were invited to be part of an expedition to mark the 50th anniversary of the first ascent.

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All the photographs and text on this blog are mine, unless I explicitly mention otherwise. Please do not use any of my photographs without my permission. If you want to use any of them, email me at sujoyrdas@gmail.com

About Me

Sujoy Das has been trekking and photographing in the Himalayas for the last thirty years. He leads treks under the banner of South Col Expeditions. He is the joint author and photographer of Sikkim - A Travellers Guide with Arundhati Ray and author of Lonely Planet-Nepal for the Indian Traveller. His essays and photographs have been published in books and magazines worldwide including The Washington Post, APA Publications, Outlook Traveller, India Today Travel Plus, Times of India Crest etc. He is currently working on a book on the Nepal Himalaya and organizing treks and photo expeditions as a part of South Col Expeditions. He is also a contributing photographer to www.lightandcomposiiton.com . For more information and photographs, please do visit www.sujoydas.com and www.sujoyrdas.blogspot.com